Diluting D-76 beyond 1-1: What is the purpose?
Moderator: Keith Tapscott.
Diluting D-76 beyond 1-1: What is the purpose?
A) Why do people dilute D-76 beyond 1:1?
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Re: Diluting D-76 beyond 1-1: What is the purpose?
D-76 is already a fairly low energy developer even at full strength, it was originally formulated to be replenished with the dedicated D-76R replenisher.kcf wrote:A) Why do people dilute D-76 beyond 1:1?
The modern trend is to dilute it 1+1 instead and to use the working strength developer solution once only and then discard it. The benefits have already been discussed in a previous thread. A dilution of 1+3 may be useful when photographing a subject with a fairly high brightness range in which the weakly diluted developer holds back excessive density in the highlight portions of the negative while allowing development to continue in the shadow portions of the negative, this is known as `compensating development`. I have tried this in the past, using the times quoted for Ilford`s near identical ID-11 when diluted 1+3, I find that for most subjects of regular brightness, that the prints can look a bit flat and prefer the 1+1 dilution instead.
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With very slow films (Adox KB14, Pan-F, etc.) you may find that dilution useful, but with medium and high speed films I would not dilute beyond 1:1.Jim Appleyard wrote:D-76 1+3 works well with slow fims in 35mm and faster films with larger formats. At least that's how it works for me. I've done quite a bit of Pan-F with the 1+3 dilution; some APX 100 in 120 size. Both look good.
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Pan F+ can be a bit finicky in fairly high contrast lighting conditions and D-76 diluted 1+3 can work well, although I have found the use of a more energetic developer which provides some compensating such as Neofin Blue or FX39 more satisfactory with this particular film, although D-76 remains my regular film developer.Jim Appleyard wrote:D-76 1+3 works well with slow fims in 35mm and faster films with larger formats. At least that's how it works for me. I've done quite a bit of Pan-F with the 1+3 dilution; some APX 100 in 120 size. Both look good.
I usually find that with films developed in D-76 diluted 1+3, that the prints can look a bit lacklustre due some to tonal compression, particularly in the mid-tones.
Yes, that is why I suggest not using dilution beyond 1:1. I much prefer FX-39 also.Keith Tapscott. wrote:Pan F+ can be a bit finicky in fairly high contrast lighting conditions and D-76 diluted 1+3 can work well, although I have found the use of a more energetic developer which provides some compensating such as Neofin Blue or FX39 more satisfactory with this particular film, although D-76 remains my regular film developer.Jim Appleyard wrote:D-76 1+3 works well with slow fims in 35mm and faster films with larger formats. At least that's how it works for me. I've done quite a bit of Pan-F with the 1+3 dilution; some APX 100 in 120 size. Both look good.
I usually find that with films developed in D-76 diluted 1+3, that the prints can look a bit lacklustre due some to tonal compression, particularly in the mid-tones.